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Sherman County eNews #24

CONTENT

Congratulations, Lions! Ask to join! “We Serve”

Life Drawing at The Dalles Art Center

Conversations with Funders, How to Apply for Grants

Last Chance to Enroll in HealthCare.gov Insurance for 2017

Winter So Far Classified as Extreme

Links: Things to Think About & Things to Do

“The policy or advantage of [immigration] taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for, by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. Whereas by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.” —George Washington (1794)

1. Congratulations, Lions! Ask to join! “We Serve”

In 100 years a social club in Chicago, formed by Melvin Jones, has grown to one of the world’s largest service organizations. Challenged by Helen Keller to be “A knight for the blind.” The organization has become an international organization located in over 200 countries.

Locally our service organization was a “Men Only” group until 30 years ago. Shortly thereafter Mac Hall and other Lions invited several women to be part of this group. Mary Anne Justesen, Joyce Hart, and a Grass Valley postmistress were serving before Nell Melzer was inducted into the club 25 years ago.

It is understood that women have been a benefit to the group and are still invited to become members and take part in the work of service. Our motto is “We serve.” There is no overhead to charity sent through Lions. Many of our most well known charities cannot make that boast!

As a new year begins, consider approaching a Lion and asking to be invited to join this service organization. ~ Lion Nell Melzer

2. Life Drawing at The Dalles Art Center

Artists seeking opportunities to improve their skills are invited to join us at for uninstructed life-drawing practice at The Dalles Art Center. Sessions are the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, starting Feb 21st, 2017 from 6:30 – 9pm. Using your own materials, you are invited to paint, sculpt, or draw from a live nude model. All sessions will be monitored, not instructed. There will be opportunities to learn from each other instead. Easels and tables are provided. Group limited to 12 artists. Model fees ($10) paid before class. For more information call 541.296.4759 or email thedallesart@gmail.com <mailto:thedallesart@gmail.com>.

3. Conversations with Funders, How to Apply for Grants

Salem, Oregon — How to apply for close to $5 million in grants offered this year will be the focus of “Conversations with Funders,” a nine-stop statewide tour Feb. 7-28 led by Oregon Cultural Trust Manager Aili Schreiner in partnership with the Oregon ArtsCommission, Oregon Heritage, Oregon Humanities and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office. Joined by representatives from the Oregon Community Foundation, Travel Oregon and the Regional Arts and Culture Council (Portland only), the group also will share information on statewide programming resources.

“There are more than 1,450 cultural nonprofits serving Oregonians,” said Schreiner. “We want to make sure they know about the grant funds and significant programming resources that are here to support them.”

The Cultural Trust’s Cultural Development Grants recognize and support significant cultural programs and projects through four grant categories: access; preservation; creativity; and capacity.

Cultural Development Grants represent one of three streams of annual funding the Cultural Trust provides to Oregon’s cultural nonprofits. Other funding includes grants to the Cultural Trust’s five statewide partners — to support their projects and respective grant programs — and to 45 county and tribal cultural coalitions that fund local initiatives and grants. In 2016 Cultural Trust funding totaled $2.9 million, made possible by donations from Oregonians who believe culture is central to Oregon’s unique quality of life.

2018 Cultural Development Grants are for projects and activities that will occur between Aug.1, 2017 and July 30, 2018.

More on the Cultural Trust and how it works can be found at CulturalTrust.org.

4. Last Chance to Enroll in HealthCare.gov Insurance for 2017

(Salem) — Tuesday, Jan. 31, is the last day to get 2017 health insurance during open enrollment. Oregonians who have not yet picked a plan can go to HealthCare.gov to enroll on their own or get application help from an expert. Financial assistance also is available, bringing down the cost of insurance for people who don’t get health insurance at work.

“As I’ve helped people apply for coverage and choose plans, client after client has been pleased, and sometimes surprised, to see how affordable their options are once they take the financial assistance into account,” said Tina Kennedy of Healthwise Insurance Planning in Portland.

So far this year, financial assistance averages $349 per month for Oregonians choosing plans through HealthCare.gov.

“People have heard a lot about insurance prices this year, but the only way to find out what your bottom line premium may be is to apply at HealthCare.gov,” said Patrick Allen, director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), which runs the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace.

More than 150,000 Oregonians already have chosen a plan through HealthCare.gov, outpacing every previous open enrollment total. Thousands more may be eligible for financial assistance. Oregon has a network of insurance agents and community organizations ready to help people enroll.

After the Jan. 31 deadline, people will be able to get 2017 coverage only in special circumstances, like when they get married or lose job-related coverage.

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The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. DCBS houses both the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace and the Division of Financial Regulation. For more information, go to dcbs.oregon.gov.

5. Winter So Far Classified as Extreme

Probably no surprise, but the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index has been classified as Extreme for Walla Walla and Yakima Washington and Pendleton and Redmond Oregon. The index, developed by Dr. Barbara Mayes-Boustead with the National Weather Service in Omaha and Steve Hilberg with Midwestern Regional Climate Center, tracks the persistence and intensity of cold, snowfall, and snow depth and compares each winter going back to 1950-51. For a winter to be classified as “extreme,” it must rank above the 95 percentile in severity.

This winter starting December 1st has scored very high in the combination of intense cold and large snowfall. This, in turn, has kept snow on the ground for an unusually long period time.

The index scores for Pendleton and Walla Walla were sitting around 375 early this week. Most years, it’s less than 150 at this time. Yakima’s index scored 425, well above the usual amount around 250. Redmond’s index scored 452, not too far off the record of 556 for this time of year.

Just looking at the persistent cold, Pendleton normally has only 12 days where the temperature fails to reach 32 degrees during the daytime from December 1 to January 22. This winter there have been 24 days, just short of the record of 28 days set in 1985-86.

For the same period, there have been 38 days with snow on the ground in Pendleton. Normally there are only 15 days of snow cover. The record is 52 days again set in 1985-86.

Comparing to last winter, Yakima had a severe winter, while Redmond, Pendleton and Walla were classified with a mild or moderate winter season. More information is available by clicking the Resources tab at http://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/